Marcionite Church of Christ
Birthplace of the first Christian Holy Bible.
Home of the oldest inscription bearing the name of Jesus.
Originators of the earliest Christian hymnbook.
Creators of the original Christian apologia.
One Testament.
The Marcionite Church was once the largest Christian body in the world, encompassing millions of adherents across the known regions of antiquity. In 128 C.E., Marcion of Sinope produced the first Christian Bible, known as the Testamentum. This sacred text contains the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, as revealed to the Apostle Paul, along with the original ten Epistles attributed to him. The Testamentum stands as the foundational canon of Christian scripture, from which nearly all later denominations ultimately derive their origins.
Marcionite Christians firmly rejected the Hebrew Bible and the god depicted within it, recognizing a fundamental incompatibility between its teachings and the message of salvation brought by Jesus Christ. This theological distinction—clear and demonstrable through the scriptures themselves—is precisely why the Hebrew Bible was excluded from the original Christian canon.
One
Gospel
Ten
Epistles
"I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain."
Galatians 2:21
MARCIONITE CHURCH
Prima Scriptura.
Marcionite Christians are not Gnostics. Our faith is not built on hidden teachings or secret revelations. Instead, it is grounded in Prima Scriptura—the authority of the first Christian Bible, the Testamentum—which openly and unapologetically proclaims the truths of our doctrine. These beliefs not only stand in the light of public scripture but also predate the formation of any other existing Christian church.
Though once vast in size and global in reach, the Marcionite Church has never been a burdensome institution encumbered by rigid hierarchies or layers of ecclesiastical control. Every individual is a sovereign child of God, fully capable of communion with Him in the present moment. The purpose of the Marcionite Church is to foster and strengthen that divine relationship, while offering a spiritual community grounded in fellowship, encouragement, and shared faith.
Prima Scriptura
Sola Fide
Credobaptism
Trinitarian
"I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another according to my gospel; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert to a gospel different from that of Christ."
Galatians 1:6-7
MARCIONITE CHURCH
Pre-Nicene Christianity.
In the years following the resurrection of Christ, the early Christian community was marked not by unity and peace, but by intense division and theological strife—even among the Apostles themselves. Far from being a harmonious beginning, this era was one of doctrinal conflict and spiritual contention.
At that time, the teachings and accounts of Jesus Christ were transmitted primarily through oral tradition, with written scriptures being rare, fragmented, and difficult to access. Competing narratives—many of them spurious or falsified—began to circulate widely, contributing to confusion and discord among believers.
It was amid this backdrop of controversy that Marcion of Sinope—a shipbuilder and bishop—undertook the monumental task of gathering and preserving the authentic writings of the Apostle Paul, along with the true Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ as it had been received. These sacred texts, previously entrusted to the Apostle John, were compiled and formally transcribed by Marcion in 128 C.E., forming the first Christian Bible: the Testamentum. Notably, this compilation excluded the Hebrew Bible, reflecting the theological clarity and distinction upheld by Marcionite doctrine.
Using the Testamentum as the foundation, Marcion established the Marcionite Church, which quickly expanded throughout the known world. Even the early Catholic Church relied on the Testamentum as a reference for translating Christian scriptures from Greek into Latin—though subsequent revisions and interpolations significantly altered the original message.
Today, a growing number of biblical scholars and theologians recognize that the canonical gospels found in modern Bibles are heavily edited versions of an earlier, purer gospel—the original Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ preserved in the Testamentum.
"No man putteth new wine into old wineskins; else the new wine will burst the wineskins, and be spilled, and the wineskins shall perish."
Evangelicon 3:57
MARCIONITE CHURCH
Council of Nicaea.
Centuries after the Testamentum was first transcribed in 128 C.E., the Hebrew Bible and various writings of uncertain origin were forcibly appended to it by imperial decree. This act was carried out under the authority of a pagan Roman emperor’s political-religious council, not by divine inspiration or apostolic mandate.
The Council of Nicaea, convened in 325 C.E., initiated this distortion. Its decisions amounted to a theological defacement—comparable to desecrating a sacred text with ideological graffiti. These alterations were later ratified and codified by the Council of Rome in 382 C.E., further obscuring the original message of the Gospel.
In contrast, the earliest Christians, as recorded in the Apostolic Council of Jerusalem in 48 C.E., affirmed that the true revelation of God came through Jesus Christ—not through the Hebrew Bible. That text reflects the customs, laws, and tribal deity of a people and religion wholly distinct from the universal salvation proclaimed in the Testamentum. It is alien to the spirit, doctrine, and purpose of authentic Christianity.
"But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ."
Galatians 1:11-12
MARCIONITE CHURCH
Ready to reclaim your Christian faith?
There is profound comfort in rediscovering the true origins of your Christian faith and holding in your hands the first Christian Bible—the Testamentum. With a deeper understanding of the Church’s authentic history and teachings, you are now called to move forward, remaining actively connected with fellow believers in the Marcionite Christian community.
“We are the price of the blood of Jesus.”
— Marcion of Sinope
Antitheses
When the first Christian Bible—the Testamentum—was compiled in 128 C.E., it provided early believers with the unprecedented opportunity to examine its contents alongside the Hebrew Bible. The contrast was startling. For the first Christians, the distinctions were unmistakable: the God revealed through Jesus Christ bore no resemblance to the wrathful, tribal deity depicted in the Hebrew scriptures. The difference was not merely theological—it was undeniable.
Hebrew Bible
Testamentum
Articles
The history and teachings of the Marcionite Church have long been presented almost entirely through the accusations of its adversaries. Marcion’s writings were hunted down and destroyed, the Testamentum was altered and absorbed into later collections, and the memory of the ancient Church was preserved chiefly by those who sought to extinguish it. Any serious examination of the Marcionite Church must therefore distinguish between its own surviving scriptures and the hostile claims made against it.
The articles collected here examine the Testamentum, the history of the Marcionite Church, the teachings of Marcion and his successors, the development of the later Christian canon, and the theological differences between God the Father revealed by Jesus Christ and the deity depicted in the Hebrew Bible. They also address common questions, historical controversies, textual discoveries, and misconceptions concerning the Marcionite faith.
Through these studies, the Marcionite Church of Christ seeks to recover its suppressed history, defend the Gospel revealed to the Apostle Paul, and apply the teachings of the Testamentum to the Church and the world today.
Questions
Any discussion of the Marcionite Church should begin with a necessary caution: beyond the Testamentum, which circulated among many of the earliest Christians and was not used exclusively by Marcionite communities, the precise doctrines and practices of the ancient Marcionite Church are only imperfectly preserved.
Marcion set forth his theological distinctions in a work known as the Antitheses, explaining why the deity revealed in the Hebrew Scriptures could not be identified with God the Father revealed by Jesus Christ. Yet Marcion’s own writings were systematically suppressed and destroyed. As a result, much of what survives concerning his teachings comes from hostile opponents whose purpose was to refute him rather than faithfully preserve his doctrine.
The Marcionite Church of Christ therefore approaches the surviving evidence critically, distinguishing the testimony of the Testamentum from later polemical claims and reconstructing the faith of the early Church through scripture, history, and careful theological study.
Below, you may submit a question concerning the Testamentum, Marcionite doctrine, Church history, worship, membership, or any common misconception about the Marcionite Church.
ONE GOSPEL. ONE BIBLE. ONE FAITH.
ONE GOSPEL. ONE BIBLE. ONE FAITH.
ONE GOSPEL. ONE BIBLE. ONE FAITH.
JESUS IS LORD.
JESUS IS LORD.
JESUS IS LORD.
